A Successful Campaign to Get More Men into ECE

Campaign to Get Men To Take Up Early Childhood Work.
By Dr Sarah Alexander.
February 27, 2013.

As money was available for use on gender equity initiatives, the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth decided to go ahead and fund the initiative ‘men in early childhood education and care‘.

The Ministry was under pressure to do something about addressing the problem of boys’ underachievement in education and working on gender equity for men would contribute toward this.

Thirty million Euros was made available for the whole of Germany and 1.7 million Euros of this was available over three years for Hamburg alone.

This article focuses on the Hamburg initiative. The initiative comprises of 3 parts:

A Coordination Centre
The ESF pilot programme – the programme for career change for men
A major research project (called the Tandem study, see results in another article on the ChildForum website)

This initiative offers a model for international comparison of funding and strategies to bring men into early childhood education.

male students stood behind this board to have their picture taken for voting on Facebook for the best male diversity model for ECE — Male students stood behind this board to have their picture taken for voting on Facebook for the best male diversity model for ECE

Working with a variety of partners, including key players in the early childhood sector and policy makers, is probably one of the keys to the success of the Coordination Centre. Since the Centre opened in 2010 staff have worked with key players to develop future-oriented ideas and projects. One aim has been to anchor gender concepts in early childhood education and promote collaboration between male and female educators. Another aim has been to significantly increase the number of male educators working in early childhood centres.

Activities include:

Fielding calls and providing counselling from those interested in training to be an early childhood educator or employing a male educator. A publicity campaign generated hundreds of calls and led to more than 260 consultations. (The top tip provided to men who call is to go and visit centres in their local area and volunteer to assist in a centre for a week).
Providing an annual conference with lectures and workshops for men and women on men in early childhood education.
Initiating and managing five work groups focused on vocational orientation, qualification, early childhood centre management, abuse of power and men in early childhood education. These work groups develop concepts, set goals, and establish networks.
Development of professional development courses to meet the specific needs of the 58 centres in the ESF pilot programme,
Running a publicity campaign.

The publicity campaign has been hugely successful so far:

In all subway and regional train stations a broad campaign of print ads featuring actual male early childhood educators advertised the diversity of the occupation. It helped to broaden the professional image of teaching (that it is not just about changing nappies) and motivated people through a call for action.
A website, Facebook page, plus several films on the YouTube Channel shared information about training and early childhood teaching as a career.
Staff attended and talked at career fairs. At one career fair, a competition was organised to find the best model for a “Diversity, MAN” Mini-me doll for the 58 centres in the pilot project. Voting took place on Facebook and two students were chosen as models for the Mini-Me dolls. Gobi was one of these students and his view was: “I think the basic idea is simply wonderful. I’ve never seen a more beautiful marketing campaign with such a nice idea behind it; namely, to gently rock more men into this occupation in a very nice way. That’s why I was only too happy to participate”.
In English the slogan “Vielfalt, Mann! Dein Talent fur Hamburger Kitas” is “Diversity, Man! More Talent for Hamburg Early Childhood Centres”.
Campaign t-shirts to show that men work with children too were distributed to centres in the pilot project. A key problem is the invisibility of men. The t-shirts remind parents and everyone that men and women can work together and children need men too. The t-shirts list the various talents a man may bring, e.g. “musician”, “wizard”, “philosopher”, goal-keeper”, and “baker”. This was also to provide a message to men that their talents as men and their individual personalities are an important addition to early childhood education.

In just under two years, the Hamburg More Men in Kitas Project had:

more than 18,000 visitors to its homepage,
20,000 viewers of its YouTube channel,
more than 100 press/newspaper articles about the project,
increased to 13% the proportion of men in the centres in the project, and
seen the number of men enrolled in training increase to 18%.

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NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education journal

Researching Pedagogies for Sustainability in Australian Bush Kinder

FULL REFERENCE: Hughes, F. (2019). Researching pedagogies for sustainability in Australian bush kinder: A reflective analysis on a framework and methodologies. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 22(1), 1-14.

Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.

ABSTRACT: While there is a growing awareness of the need for children to spend more time in natural settings, the pedagogical link between education for sustainability (EfS) and nature requires further investigation. The assumption that children’s connection with nature equates with EfS is a key issue, as is educators’ understandings of their own pedagogical roles in relation to a nature-sustainability nexus. This article is a reflection on the framework and methodologies used in a doctoral study which explored how the links between nature and sustainability are perceived by early childhood educators in bush kinder settings in Australia, and the implications for their pedagogy. Data was collected over an eight month period where insights into the perceptions of the educators about sustainability and nature pedagogies were gained. Guided by a social constructivist theoretical framework, a methodology based upon Participatory Action Research (PAR), Appreciative Inquiry (AI) and Case Study was employed. In particular, PAR and AI are methodologies that supported the educators’ agency in transformative change. Data collection methods included individual interviews, focus groups, educator reflective journals and researcher participant observation field notes. The focus of this paper is to report on an analysis of the study methodology and process of data collection.

Key words: Education for sustainability, nature, bush kinder, PAR, AI, case study, pedagogy

INTRODUCTION

“It’s our ordinary. It’s what we do every day. I know it’s extraordinary when I say ordinary … The essence of everything we do. It wasn’t what we expected it to be. We thought, we are going to go out, just go on an excursion through the gate, and we are going to have a fabulous time. Now it’s different. We have realised the benefits are far outweighing the negatives. That whole idea of critical thinking has made us believe that what we do every day is normal” (Preschool 1).

The framework and methodologies discussed in this paper were implemented in a study in 2016/17 that sought to answer the question: How might an awareness of the nexus between nature and sustainability influence the pedagogies of early childhood educators in bush kinder settings?

The study evolved from my concerns about how slowly the early childhood sector has addressed environmental sustainability issues and the lack of curriculum guidance around Early Childhood Education for Sustainability (ECEfS). Australian policy requirements for early childhood education (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority [ACECQA], 2017) promote stewardship, respect and care for the environment, but often the ‘romanticised’ sensory, immersion nature discourse is promoted and taken by educators.

This study explored how the links between nature and sustainability are perceived by early childhood educators in bush kinder settings in Australia, and the implications for their pedagogy. Given the newness of the bush kinder approach, it is important for educators to reflect on their pedagogical roles in nature settings. As there has been little research into Early Childhood Education (ECE) pedagogy in outdoor nature settings in Australia and specifically its relationship with ECEfS, there is a need to investigate this gap. With the rapid growth of Australian bush kinder programs, I propose that the time is right to question whether Education for Sustainability (EfS) is being implemented, or are educators assuming that connections with nature are sufficient to develop strong approaches to EfS and subsequently convey this to children. The focus of this paper is an analysis of the study methodology and process of data collection in investigating this issue.

Contextualising the study

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Early Childhood Care and Education Policy: Ireland Country Note

FULL REFERENCE: Horgan, D., Martin, S., Cunneen, M., & Towler M. (2014). Early childhood care and education policy: Ireland country note. New Zealand Research in Early Childhood Education Journal. Special Issue: Early Childhood Policy, 17, 21 – 34.

Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.

ABSTRACT: Historically early childhood care and education infrastructure and policy in Ireland has been underdeveloped compared to other OCED countries (OECD, 2004). According to the OECD (2012), access to childcare, staff training, high-quality provision and public expenditure are vitally important if all children are to benefit positively from ECCE provision. This Country Note addresses these issues briefly and discusses some key transitions in ECCE policy in Ireland.

Key words: Ireland; policy, state expenditure; early childhood care and education.

Introduction

In Ireland, Government investment in early childhood care and education (ECCE) has traditionally been very low. Even as recently as 2009, Ireland spent only 0.4% of GDP on ECCE which is well below the OECD average. This is despite the fact that, in 2010, Ireland had the highest number of births ever recorded and that the preschool population has increased, according to the 2011 Census, by nearly 18% since 2006 (Fitzgerald, 2013). When international comparisons are made of Ireland’s performance in relation to the availability, affordability and quality of ECCE, the results are not always favourable. In the Starting Well Index (2012) which investigated ECCE in 45 countries worldwide, Ireland ranked 18th overall1.

Ideologically early childhood care and education was considered in Ireland to be a private family issue which did not necessitate state intervention (NESF, 2005; Coolahan, 1998). Linked to this ideology was the limited availability and scope of paid parental leave entitlements focusing mainly on mothers and maternity leave (Hayes, 2010)2. Fallon points out that, outside of the state primary school system, there had been “virtually no direct State involvement in establishing ECCE services in Ireland” (Fallon, 2005, p. 291)3. Instead the State provided a fragmented system of funding to programmes, maintaining a clear distinction between childcare and early education ‘with childcare part of the equality and work agenda and early education part of the strategy for combating educational disadvantage’ (Hayes, 2010, p. 67).

The gap in state provision meant that the voluntary and private sector have made a major contribution to early childhood education and care in Ireland (Douglas, 1994; ECI, 2013). However significant changes have occurred in the policy and practice landscape in recent years which are transforming the ECCE sector and this Country Note will discuss some of these and look at possible implications.

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87 Services Closed and 50 Opened in 2024

ANALYSIS

1644 early childhood spaces gone in 2024, as 87 services closed and just 50 ones opened,

Nationally, Aotearoa lost 1644 early childhood education (ECE) spaces in 2024, as a result of 37 more services closing than opening.

Spaces in education and care centres and spaces for over-2s overall were not changed significantly from the year before. It was

NZIRECE Journal early childhood education research

Beyond Partnerships with Parents in ECE: A Legacy of Adult Experiential Learning in Playcentres

FULL REFERENCE: Jenkin, C., Stover, S., Hill-Denee, D. and Reid, R. (2022). Beyond partnerships with parents in early childhood education: A legacy of adult experiential learning in Playcentres. NZ International Research in Early Childhood Education Journal, 24, pp. 4 – 15..

Log-in to read the full research paper below. Or order a pdf copy of the article from the main NZIRECE Journal page.

ABSTRACT: Within early childhood education, the role of parents is a contested space. While collaborative relationships are emphasised as part of the curriculum, the structure of most early childhood services positions parents as ‘consumers’ who buy a ‘product’ or commodified service that they do not make themselves. In the case of early childhood education, they are purchasing the ‘care and education’ of their children. In New Zealand, this has not always been the case.

This article is based on a recent qualitative study that the authors conducted through semi-structured interviews with participants who attended Playcentre with their children and subsequently developed careers in early childhood programmes in tertiary institutions. The findings showed that sustained parent participation in early childhood settings produced experiential learning that led to new career trajectories for them as individuals. While all the participants in the study had deep involvement in the parent co-operative Playcentre, opportunities for parents to learn through shared responsibility in early childhood were not unusual. A historic review of the role of parents in early childhood settings shows that major changes occurred in 1990 throughout the sector with the introduction of the first national standardised ‘quality’ indicators set by governments. Subsequent policy documents have reinforced the importance of respectful collaborative relationships between parents and teachers.

However, looking back at their years in Playcentre, the participants in this research recognised that working in partnership with other parents was a key driver for them as adult learners. Sharing responsibilities with other parents – adult learners alongside very young child learners – led them into new capabilities and shaped their approach to their subsequent careers in early childhood teacher education.

KEY WORDS: Early childhood education, Playcentre, semi-structured interviews, collaboration, adult experiential learning.

INTRODUCTION

The place of parents learning alongside their children and alongside other parents is the space that Playcentre has championed since the 1940s in Aotearoa NZ.

As the doyen of Playcentre, Gwen Somerset wrote in 1972:

When a mother participates or becomes involved in [early childhood education] where she can observe and work with children of many different environments, not only does she share in the early education of her child, but she is involved in adult education at the fundamental level of personal relationships. Adult education is integrated with early childhood education (Somerset, 1972, pp. 31-32).

While apparently excluding fathers and other caregivers from her vision, Somerset’s positioning of mothers as adult learners reflected the realities of her times, and was a strongly feminist position. Mothers of very young children were capable of, perhaps even were required to change as part

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Returning to Work Mothers Prefer Known Carer

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